November 25, 2018

 Being Thankfull is Not Enough
November 25, 2018
Pastor Jonathan Falwell

 

Open:

With our thoughts recently centered on gratefulness, did you find any part of your life that you could not adequately express thanks for? For instance, maybe someone who’s spent years desiring a child and finally gives birth, and can hardly speak of that joy without crying! Can you share?

As Thanksgiving week winds to a close, we want to properly thank God for being the giver of “every good and perfect gift” (James 1:17). Some of His gifts, however, are so great as to fall outside our ability to thank Him enough. As we look at those gifts, we want to write their significance on our hearts, daily praising Him for what He has done, and how He has changed our lives.

 

Discuss:

God’s Love:

  • Read John 3:16-17, and personalize it in your own Bible. Can anyone share their testimony of salvation? How do you feel your love for Jesus compares today to what you felt the day you first accepted Christ as Savior?
  • Read Rom. 5:8. Can you share a recent moment when the reality of what Jesus did on the Cross made a new impact on your life? How can you keep the significance of that incredible act fresh, giving God praise daily for it?

God’s Power:

  • Read Col. 1:15-17. How powerful do you see God? By what method did He bring creation into being? How did Jesus do many of His miracles?
  • What does His power mean to you personally?
  • Read Heb. 2:9. How does it impact you that God the Son left the glory of heaven, came to earth as a human, fully man but fully God, and died on a cross to save you? Would you give your child to die for the sins of the world?
  • If He has the power to speak creation into being, to die for the sins of everyone who trusts in Him, what does that mean He can do with your problems?

God’s Healing:

  • Read John 3:14-15, again personalizing verse 15 with your name. Who does this verse say is able to be saved?
  • Read Num. 21:5-9. What was the sin of the Israelites? How did God intervene in order to provide a way of forgiveness? Do you think any of the people refused to look upon the serpent because it seemed “too easy”?
  • Does anyone recall the story of Naaman, the captain of the Syrian army who became a leper, and his servant girl? Paraphrase it for the group if you do, then read 2 Kings 5:10-14. How did the provision for Naaman’s healing differ from that in Num. 21? Why do we think healing should be hard for God?
  • Can you think of an area where you need God’s healing touch, but feel you are not worthy, or the “steps” given in counseling are too easy? Share only if you want.
  • God’s Gift:
  • Read John 1:29 and again, personalize the gift of salvation with your name. Do you struggle with thinking that belief in Jesus as God’s son, Who died for your sins so that you can be forgiven and become His follower, is too simple?
  • Read 1 John 2:2. The simplicity of the gospel is so applicable to all ages that children and adults, poor or rich, may understand and be saved. How can you keep from becoming complacent about the size of the cross? What does it mean to you?

 

Do you recognize the significance of the gift (read Rom. 5:12-21 at home)?

Have you received the gift? If not, what hinders you?

 

 

 

Close:

No matter the area of your life, the subject discussed, or the initial impact something has made on you, it is difficult to keep an attitude of joy about it day after day. Eventually, we find ourselves expecting the day to bring what it has been: whether a daily rose from a loving spouse, to a clean house with supper ready. Perhaps the gladness of a new baby might last longer, as he falls asleep in your arms, but one day when he’s starting down the road to independence your expectations might become less ecstatic. When you are contemplating the gifts of eternity, however, the wonder of the Cross should never become less than a constant delight. Realizing  the eternal impact it has on your life—you who are unworthy, sinful, and make a myriad of mistakes daily—should give you pause to stop and glorify God for His continued goodness to you! What would you be doing, and where would you spend eternity if He had not stepped to your “grave” and called you by name, out of your tomb, as He did Lazarus? “Even when [you] were dead in sins, [you] has He made alive with Christ!” (Eph. 2). Last week’s key verse is also powerful for today: “rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” How appropriate for those things that mean the difference between life and death!

KEY VERSE: “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” John 3:17.

 

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